Sweden has selected French naval shipbuilder Naval Group Naval Group as the preferred supplier for its future Luleå-class frigates, marking a key step forward in the country’s next-generation surface combatant programme.
The Swedish government has instructed the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to begin formal negotiations with France for the acquisition of four FDI-designed frigates. The programme is valued at approximately 40 billion Swedish kronor, or around $4.25 billion.
The announcement was made in Stockholm aboard the Visby-class corvette Härnösand, in the presence of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Defence Minister Pål Jonson and Supreme Commander General Michael Claesson.
According to officials, the French design was selected over competing proposals from the United Kingdom’s Babcock and Spain’s Navantia, with decision factors including design maturity, delivery timeline and potential cost-sharing opportunities with existing FDI operators such as France and Greece.
Deliveries are expected to begin by 2030, with subsequent vessels to follow at a rate of approximately one ship per year.
The Luleå-class programme was originally launched in 2021 with preliminary design studies based on an enlarged evolution of the Visby-class corvette. The scope of the programme expanded following Europe’s changing security environment after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s accession to NATO.
The new frigates are expected to displace around 4,000 tonnes and measure approximately 120 metres in length. They will be designed for air defence, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface operations, while also addressing asymmetric threats in contested maritime environments.
The vessels will integrate a mix of Swedish and international systems, including Saab’s RBS 15 anti-ship missiles, Torped 47, Giraffe 1X radar, and Trackfire remote weapon stations, along with BAE Systems Bofors 57 mm and 40 mm naval guns.
The combat management system is expected to remain the French SETIS system. For air defence, the ships will be equipped with Aster 30 missiles and CAMM-ER systems, significantly enhancing Sweden’s naval air defence capability.
Sweden has not operated a naval air defence missile system since the retirement of Seacat in the early 1980s.
Officials from FMV said the new frigates will play a central role as mobile air defence platforms protecting critical maritime supply routes in the Baltic Sea region, which are essential for both military and civilian logistics for Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states.
The FDI frigates are designed as first-rank warships capable of independent operations or integration within multinational naval task groups, with a mission set covering air defence, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and operations against modern asymmetric threats including submarines, supersonic missiles and cyber-related risks.